An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is an aircraft that flies without a human crew on board the aircraft. A UAV can be used for various purposes, such as the collection of ambient gaseous particles, observation, thermal imaging, and the like. A micro air vehicle (MAV) is one type of UAV, which, due to its relatively small size, can be useful for operating in complex topologies, such as mountainous terrain, urban areas, and confined spaces. The structural and control components of a MAV are constructed to be relatively lightweight and compact.